Series
General Social Survey (GSS)
en-NZGSS
en-NZStats NZ
en-NZThe General Social Survey (GSS), formerly the New Zealand General Social Survey (NZGSS), is part of a suite of integrated household surveys run by Stats NZ. It is conducted under the Programme of Official Social Statistics. The GSS provides a cross-domain perspective of social wellbeing for the population of New Zealand. As such, it provides a basis for cross-domain analysis, not possible with other more narrowly focused surveys. It is also a basis for coherent monitoring of some key aspects of social wellbeing over time.
en-NZThe GSS produces statistics about social wellbeing to inform decision-making by government agencies and the wider community. Data gathered includes objective information about circumstance, such as labour force status and income, as well as a personal assessment of different aspects of New Zealander's lives, such as life satisfaction, health, housing, human rights, and relationships. In particular, the survey provides a view of how wellbeing outcomes vary across different groups within the population.
en-NZ- Two-yearly
The GSS is run every two years. The data collected will be used to develop future iterations of the survey and for time series monitoring. Future use of each GSS dataset would be high for the first two years after first release. This is likely to drop down to medium after that.
Data Collection Disruption 2020-2021:
Due to the first nationwide Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in March 2020, face-to-face interviewing for the GSS 2020 data collection (due to begin in April 2020, and end in March 2021) was delayed by a full year (until April 2021), following consultation with stakeholders.
Data collection for GSS 2021 (formerly GSS 2020), began on 1 April 2021. However, a second nationwide lockdown began in August 2021, during the Delta variant outbreak, suspending face-to-face interviewing for a second time. Collection stopped on 17 August, meaning the collection period for GSS 2021 was around four and a half months. This meant the sample size for GSS 2021 was significantly smaller than for previous collections.
Data Collection Disruption 2011:
After the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011, interviewers were unable to work in certain parts of the Canterbury area. This led to a lower number of completed cases for February and March in the Canterbury area. The weights used for the survey have controlled for the loss of cases. The September 2010 earthquake in Christchurch did not affect data collection.
Government departments, researchers, regional and local councils, community organisations and the wider public.
Questionnaires
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General Social Survey 2018 Questionnaire - Flowcharts en-NZ |
Questionnaires
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General Social Survey 2016 Questionnaire en-NZ |
Questionnaires
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General Social Survey 2014 Questionnaire en-NZ |
Questionnaires
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General Social Survey 2012 Questionnaire en-NZ |
Questionnaires
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General Social Survey 2010 Questionnaire en-NZ |
Questionnaires
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General Social Survey 2008 Questionnaire en-NZ |
Recent releases
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Wellbeing Statistics: 2018 en-NZ |
Recent releases
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Stats NZ - Wellbeing (topic) en-NZ |
Recent releases
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Housing in Aotearoa: 2020 en-NZ |
Recent releases
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The state of housing in Aotearoa New Zealand (December 2020) en-NZ |
Recent releases
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Stats NZ - Housing (topic) en-NZ |
Past releases
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Perceptions of housing quality in 2014/15 | Stats NZ en-NZ |
Past releases
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Loneliness in New Zealand: Findings for the 2010 NZ General Social Survey (April 2013) en-NZ |
Past releases
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Vulnerable children and families: Some findings from the New Zealand General Social Survey (October 2012) en-NZ |
Past releases
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Working together: Racial discrimination in New Zealand (September 2012) en-NZ |
Past releases
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How prepared are New Zealanders for a natural disaster? (June 2012) en-NZ |
Past releases
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Parents supporting children who do not live with them (March 2012) en-NZ |
Past releases
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General Social Survey 2008 Fact Sheet: Natural disaster preparation at home en-NZ |
Reports
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Social Cohesion in New Zealand: Facts from the NZ General Social Survey 2008 (June 2011) en-NZ |
Other useful links
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Social well-being in New Zealand: Interactive tool en-NZ |
Other useful links
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Social well-being in New Zealand in 2014: Poster and brochure en-NZ |
NZ.Stat Tables
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NZ.Stat Tables en-NZSome of our data is available in tables from earlier iterations of the GSS (2014 and earlier). From the left navigation column on the NZ.Stat main page, choose “People and Communities”, then view GSS tables by: • Gender • Housing • Civic Participation • Migrants • Region en-NZ |